You should experience art, says artist Sam Gilliam

E. Ethelbert Miller  is a poet, teacher and self-described literary activist who is a board member of The Writer's Center and editor of Poet Lore magazine. Since 1974, he has been the director of the African American Resource Center at Howard University.  Miller is one of the most influential people in Washington's arts community.

He recently sat down with Sam Gilliam, an original and innovative color field painter who has taught in Washington D.C. public schools and in many prominent art schools and universities in Washington D.C., Maryland, and Pennsylvania. Since his first grant from the National Endowment for the Arts in 1967, Gilliam has been acknowledged by a long list of public and private commissions, grants, awards, exhibitions and honorary doctorates.

In this fascinating video interview produced by the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, Gilliam discusses the people who helped him when he was coming up and led him to his career as a successful artist. He also discusses the role of art in life. “You don’t have to be an artist, but you should experience it,” says Gilliam.

http://www.youtube.com/TheDCARTS#p/a/1/9NOTjWA3_vw